Tax Tips for Self-Employed Personal Trainers

There are a lot of business tax deductions you can take as a self-employed personal trainer to reduce your taxes so you can stay financially fit. Here are a few tips.

Start-up costs

If you just started your self-employed business as a personal trainer, congratulations! Don’t forget that you can deduct start-up costs spent before you officially opened, like marketing, website creation, advertising expenses, and costs to scope out your business location. You can typically deduct up to $5,000 of these costs in your first year, but that amount is reduced if your total start-up costs exceed $50,000. Any remaining expenses are amortized over 15 years. 

Fitness equipment and training tools

If you purchased any fitness equipment or training tools during the current tax year, you may get a nice tax break. For example, if you purchase fitness equipment that will be used by your clients, you can take the cost of that equipment as an expense. It doesn’t matter if it’s equipment purchased to use in a gym, in your home business location, or in a client’s home. As long as it will be used for business purposes, you can deduct the purchase price as a business expense.

You may be able to write off the full cost of the equipment and tools, using either Section 179 or bonus depreciation. The Section 179 deduction amount is limited to  $2,560,000 for tax year 2026, whereas there is no limit for bonus depreciation Bonus depreciation isn’t limited to business income and can create or increase a loss, whereas Section 179 is limited to your business income. If you do not use either method, you can elect to spread the expense over several years using regular depreciation. 

Training and educational materials

This actually works in two ways. Not only can you deduct training and educational materials for your clients as an expense, but you can do the same with similar expenses for yourself as long as it maintains or improves skills needed in training. Education that qualifies you for a new trade or business is not deductible. 

So if you have to take training courses in connection with your work as a personal trainer, the cost of those courses is typically tax deductible. In addition, if you also have training videos or apps that you provide for your clients, you generally can deduct those as well. 

Auto and travel expenses

When you travel to meet with clients, you can deduct costs related to that travel. If you drive to a client’s home, the IRS allows you to take the standard mileage deduction. For tax year 2026, you can deduct 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents per mile from July 1 onward. Regularly driving to your clients’ homes can be a substantial expense. In addition, you may also be able to deduct the amount that you pay for tolls and parking.

If you incur a lot of auto expenses, you may be able to deduct some of those expenses under the actual expense method. This means deducting the business percentage of your actual car costs, such as gas, oil, repairs, maintenance, and depreciation. If your car is used 70% for business, you deduct 70% of your costs. 

Note: If you want to use the standard mileage rate, you have to use it in the first year the car is used for business. Only then can you switch between the standard mileage rate and the actual expense method.  

Air travel you pay to fly to a client’s location or to take personal training courses can be tax deductible, along with hotel accommodations while you are away. You may also be able to deduct up to 50% of the cost of your meals while you travel.

Computer and related material

Many self-employed individuals have computer-related expenses. This can include the cost of a computer itself, but also any other related expenses, such as the cost of your internet connection and applications that you use related to your business.

If you have a website that is related to your personal training business, expenses that you incur in connection with that site would be tax deductible. This can include web hosting fees and the cost of any third-party services, such as web design or SEO management.

General business expenses

There are also certain expenses that are common to nearly all self-employed people that could be tax deductible. This can include your telephone service if you have a dedicated phone line for your business and even office space in your home dedicated to your work.

State business license costs are also tax deductible, as are any dues or subscriptions that you need to maintain your business. You can also deduct the cost of paying for tax preparation and bookkeeping software, or at least the portion of the fee that can be attributed to the business part of your tax return.

If you have a bank account that you use primarily for business, the bank charges that you pay on that account will be tax deductible. This will also be the case if you have a credit card account, where you pay fees in order to accept credit card payments from your clients.

Health insurance and retirement expenses

If you are fully self-employed as a personal trainer, it is likely that you have private health insurance. As a self-employed person, you can generally deduct the cost of that premium on your tax return, whether or not you itemize your deductions. This deduction is not subject to the 7.5% AGI floor that applies to medical itemized deductions, but the deduction can’t exceed your net self-employment income. .

Still another major tax deduction for the self-employed are retirement plan contributions. At a minimum, you can make tax-deductible contributions to your own IRA account. As your income increases, you can consider setting up more specific self-employed retirement plans such as a SEP IRA, which provides even more generous tax deductions.

Qualified business income deduction

You may be able to receive a 20% Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction when self-employed. The tax deduction is subject to a few limitations based on the type of income, trade, or business you are in, as well as the amount of net income you earn.

In truth, so many expenses that you incur in connection with your personal training activities are likely to be tax-deductible and can contribute to the health and wellness of your business.

Don’t worry about knowing these tax laws or tracking your business income and expenses. You can use QuickBooks Self-Employed to easily track your income, expenses, mileage, capture your receipts, and estimate your quarterly taxes year-round. Your information can then be easily exported to TurboTax Self-Employed at tax-time.

If you have questions, you can connect live via one-way video to a TurboTax Expert Assist Premium CPA or Enrolled Agent and get your tax questions answered. TurboTax Experts Self-Employed CPAs and Enrolled Agents are available in English and Spanish and can also review, sign, and file your tax return.